my advantage. ||| the time nor the | manner Though I know | neither of the | death | I am to | die, | I am not at | all so- | licitous a- | bout it; | be cause I am sure that he knows them | both, |-~|~ and that he will not | fail to | comfort | and sup- | port [JOHNSON.] constant re- | cip ro- | cation of benefits | or | interchange of | pleasures; | but such | benefits | only | can be be- | stowed, as others are | capable of re- |ceiving, and | such | pleasures im- parted, as | others are qualified to | | en- | joy. | ཡ | By this de- | scent from the | pinnacles of | art | no | honor will be | lost; || for the | conde- | scensions of learning] are | always | over- | paid | by | gratitude. An | elevated | genius | em- | ployed in | ap- pears, to use the | simile of Lon- | in his | evening | decli- | nation : he re- mits his | splendor, but re- | tains his | magnitude; and pleases | more, though he | dazzles | less." | little things, The difference of effect in "rhythmical accent," it will be perceived, on closely examining the style of the preceding passages, is greatly dependent on the number of syllables included within each "bar," and, not less, on the pauses, which are also included in the "rhythm," and therefore enclosed within the bars; since the "time" of the voice necessarily includes its rests and intermissions, as well as its sounds. 66 'Rhythm" depends, farther, on the position of the accented syllable which takes on the emphasis of a phrase, as well as on the different species of accent, as 66 radical," 66 concrete," or "temporal." Compare, particularly, the contents of the "bars” in the last few lines of the last two examples. They will be found to imbody the expressive genius of each author, and "clothe his thought in fitting sound." The meek and quiet spirit of Addison, breathes in the plain, conversational, and comparatively uniform style of "rhythm,” in the close of the paragraph quoted from him; and the noble soul, but mechanical ear, of Johnson, are equally expressed in the sweeping "rhythm" of "quantity" and pause, and measured antiphony, in the cadence of the last sentence extracted from the 66 99 66 99.66 Rambler. The limits of an elementary work like the present, will not admit the details of analysis by which the peculiar character of each of the authors quoted might be verified by his peculiar "rhythm." But in the statements already made on quantity," pause, movement," "accent," and "rhythm," the implements of analysis have been furnished; and the exercise of applying them may be left to the teacher and the student. III.-Prosodial Accent, or "Metre." The term "metre," 66 or measure," is applied, in prosody and in elocution, to that exact gauge of "rhythm," which is furnished in the process of prosodial analysis termed "scanning," by which a verse," or line of poetry, is resolved into its constituent "quanti" and "accents." 66 ties 66 Metre," as a branch of prosody, comprehends, in our language, both "quantity " and "accent." The ancient languages, and those of modern Europe, generally, are less favorable than ours, to this union. The Greek and the Latin seem to have leaned chiefly on 66 quantity;" and we discern a similar tendency, though in an inferior degree, in the European continental languages, - particularly those of the South. A language abounding in long "quantities" of various sound, needs less aid from "accent," whether for distinctive enunciation or expression of feeling, than one redundant, like the English, in the number and force of its consonants. The racy energy of English enunciation, is owing to the comparative force, spirit, and brilliancy of its accent, which strikes so instantaneously on the ear, with a bold "radical movement" and absorbing power, that compel the attention to the determining syllable of every word. It bespeaks at once the practical and energetic character of the people with whom it originated. -Other modern languages seem to distribute the accent among all the syllables of a word, and to leave the ear doubtful to which it is meant to apply, unless in the case of long vowels, in which they greatly excel, as regards the uses of music and of " pressive" speech, or impassioned modes of voice. ex In emphatic utterance, however, the firm grasp which our numerous hard consonants allow to the organs, in the act of articulation, gives a peculiar percussive force of explosion to the vowels that follow them in accented syllables; and the comparatively short duration of our unaccented sounds, causes those which are accented, when they possess long "quantity," to display it with powerful effect in the utterance of "expressive" emotion. Our poets sometimes turn this capability of the language to great account; and none abounds more in examples than Milton, whose ear seems to have detected and explored every element of expressive effect which his native tongue could furnish. J Syllables have been classed, in prosody, as long or short, accented or unaccented; and the prosodial characters, (long,) and (short,) have been used to designate them to the eye. The same marks have been arbitrarily used to denote accented and unaccented syllables. The "rhythm" of verse as measured by "long" and "short" or by "heavy," (accented,) and "light," (unaccented,) syllables, has the following metrical designations: I.-"Iambic Metre." This form of verse takes its name from the circumstance of its being constituted by the "foot," or sequence of syllables, called an "iambus." The words "foot" and "feet" are arbitrarily used in prosody, to express a group of syllables constituting a distinct and separable portion of verse. The "iambus" is a "foot" consisting of two syllables: the first, short, or unaccented, or both; the second, long, or accented, or both; as in the word repeal. "Iambic metre is exemplified in " epic" or "heroic" poetry, whether in the form of "blank verse," -so called from its not furnishing rhymes, and its consequent blank effect on the ear, as in Milton's Paradise Lost, or of rhyming "couplets,". - so called from the lines rhyming in couples, -as in Pope's translation of Homer. Each line, in "blank verse" and the "heroic couplet," contains five "iambuses," or ten syllables, alternating from short to long, or from unaccented to accented; as in the following examples. "Blank" Verse. "Advanced | în view, they stand, | ǎ hōr- | rid frōnt | and Ŏf war-riors ōld, | with ōr- | děred spear | and shield. "Heroic Couplet." "Like leaves on trees the life | of man | is found; | Another race the fol- | ( 4.) lowing spring | supplies: The "Iambic verse is exemplified, also, in octosyllabic lines, in rhyming "couplets," and in quatrain, or four-line "stanzas." following are examples. Octosyllabic Couplet. “The wày | was long, | the wind | wăs cōld; ¦ Quatrain Stanza: Octosyllabic Couplets. "The spacious fir- | măment | on high | 1 Irregular feet used as substitutes for the "iambus," according to the "license" of versification. These feet are called, (1. and 2.) the "spondee," -two long syllables; (3.) the “tribrach," three short syllables; (4.) the "anapast," two short syllables, and one long; (5.) the "pyrrhic," two short syllables. And span- | gled heavens, | ǎ shin- | ing frame, | Quatrain Stanza: Octosyllabic Lines, rhyming alternately. "The heavens | declare | thy glō- | rỹ, Lōrd, | "Common Metre" Stanza: Alternate Lines of Eight and Six Syllables. "Thy love the power of thought | bestowed; | Thy mer- | cỹ ā er | my life | has flowed'; | That mercy I ǎdōre." | "Short Metre" Stanza: Two Lines of Six, one of Eight, and one of Six Syllables. "Iambic “Tŏ ēv- | ĕr fra- | grant meads, | verse occurs, likewise, in the form of the "elegiac' so called from the circumstance of its having been employed for the purposes of elegy. stanza, Elegiac Stanza: Lines of Ten Syllables, rhyming alternately. “Fŭll man- | ỹ ǎ gēm, | of pūr- | est ray | serene, | And waste its sweet-ness on | the des- | ĕrt air.” | Another form of the "iambic" verse, of frequent occurrence in reading, is that of the "Spenserian" stanza, -so called from the poet Spenser, who was the first to use it, in a continuous poem of considerable length. "Spenserian on "Stanza: Eight Lines of Ten Syllables and one of Twelve: the Rhymes occurring as follows: on the 1st and 3d,· the 2d, 4th, 5th, and 7th, and on the 6th, 8th, and 9th. "Where'er | wě tread, | 'tis haunt- | ed hō- | ly ground: | The scenes | our ear- | liest dreams | have dwelt | ŭpon. | Each hill and dale, | each deep- [ening glen | ănd wōld, | Defies the power which crushed thy tem- plēs gōne: | Age shakes | Äthe- | nă's tōwer, | būt spares | gray Mar- | ǎthon.” There are many other forms of " iambic" verse; but they occur less frequently; and most of them can be easily analyzed after scanning the preceding specimens. 1 II.—“Trochaic” Metre. This species of verse derives its name from its predominating foot, the "trochee," which consists, as mentioned before, of a long syllable followed by a short, as in the word fatăl. "Trochaic" verse is exemplified in the following lines from Dryden's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day. "Softly sweet, în | Lydian | mēasŭres, This species of verse is seldom used in long or continuous poems, but principally in occasional passages, for variety of effect. It is found usually in octosyllabic lines of rhyming "couplets," as above. III.-Anapastic Metre. This form of verse takes its name from its prevalent foot, the "anapæst," consisting of two short syllables followed by one long, as in the word intĕrvēne. "Anapæstic" verse is found usually in the two following forms: 1. Stanza of Four or Eight Lines of Three "anapasts," or equivalent feet. "How fleet 2 is ǎ glance | of the mind! Compared with the speed | of its flight, | The tempest itself | lags behind, | And the swift | winged ar- | rows of light." 2. Stanza of Four Lines of Four "anapasts," or equivalent feet. "The even- ing was glō- | rious; and light | through the trees Played the sun- shine and rain- | drops, the bīrds | and the breeze; | The land-scape, outstretch- | ing in love- | liness, lāy | On the lap of the year, | in the beau- | tỹ of May." | 1 For farther examples, and a more extended statement, regarding the "reading of poetry," see "American Elocutionist." 2 An iambus" sometimes occurs as the first foot in an "anapæstic" line. |